1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to dispensers, particularly granulator dispensers or dispensers for particulate material, and more particularly to dispensers for granulated products, such as chilled, iced, or frozen products, for example ice cream, frozen yogurt, frozen custard, sherbert, sorbet, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
At the present time, several type of granulators are on the market that make ice starting from a liquid or a drink, such as lemonade, coffee or other beverages, to form some sort of more or less pasty mass. The mass is held in such state by means of an evaporator that removes heat and supplies necessary coldness.
Such granulators include blades that stir this mass so that it would not completely freeze thus preventing the formation of excessively large pieces of ice.
The spindle of these blades is usually vertically mounted, which normally requires a product-containing reservoir having a large volume and height, inside of which must be installed the evaporator and the blades.
This disadvantage was remedied with a horizontal arrangement of the spindle of the blades, whereby it was possible to considerably reduce the overall volume of the machine.
However, another drawback continued by virtue of the fact that two types of blades were needed: namely, one type for the stirring itself and the other for the scraping on the surface of the evaporator to prevent the ice from accumulating around the evaporator.
In addition to a lower useful capacity of the reservoir, this meant a coupling of both blades so that they would carry out a combined movement, or the use of two independent drive elements for the different rotational movements of the blades.
This disadvantage was solved by Spanish Patent No. 9100345 that is directed to a granulator that incorporated the previously mentioned spindle in a horizontal direction, and included one only spiral-shaped scraper encircling the evaporator, so that it simultaneously carried out the above-mentioned stirring and scraping functions. Furthermore, by means of a push button, the configuration of the granulator of the patent determines the movement of the granulated chilled, iced, or frozen product towards a discharge nozzle.
In spite of the obvious advantages brought forth by Spanish Patent No. 9100345, this patent is still open to incorporate certain improvements, such as, for example, a better use of the space in the reservoirs, a better treatment of the granulated iced product, and a considerably simpler construction.